Since ChatGPT launched in 2022, three out of four communicators have started using AI in their work, according to a new Muck Rack report.
I’m one of them. I use it Every. Single. Day.
It’s fast. It’s clever. It’s a great tool.
But — there are two problems:
- Readers are turning away from AI writing. Researchers at the University of Michigan and other institutions have found that readers prefer human-written messages by as much as 30%. They know AI slop when they read it.
- The rush to AI is starting to cost communicators their jobs. Writing roles now rank fifth most likely to be lost to AI, according to a recent study by Microsoft.
So, my writing resolutions this year are all about learning how to outwrite a robot… how to bring human intelligence to artificial intelligence… and how to win back our readers, and our jobs, by making writing human again.
In the last six months, I’ve talked to more than 1,000 PR pros on LinkedIn about how they’re using AI. Here are some things I’ve learned:
- Become a better writer.
The only way to become a better writer with AI is to become a better writer — period.
If you don’t tell your bot to:
- Write in benefits, not features…
- Start your message with a bang, not with the blah-blah…
- Make your copy radically clear…
…it won’t.
Your bot doesn’t know the latest best writing practices. You need to.
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- Redeploy the time AI saves you.
AI can do some things 100 times faster than humans, according to OpenAI. (On the other hand, 41% of workers spend their time fact-checking and reworking AI-generated content, according to the Harvard Business Review.)
In other words, your bot can write a shitty first draft in seconds. Use the time that frees up to find the emotional heart of your story.
- Go beyond AI.
Most days, I’d like to strangle CoPilot. There are so many better-than-AI tools out there. If you haven’t already, then give these a try:
- Microsoft Word’s Readability Statistics
- Hemingway App
- Omnisend Subject Line Grader
- Use AI beyond writing.
There’s a growing belief that AI makes us intellectually lazy. But that depends on how you use it. I use AI to figure out what keeps communicators up at night, to learn the history of Japan through Japanese cinema and to cheat on my therapist.
- Be more human.
In the age of AI, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff calls being human “our superpower.”
Let’s use it.
There has never been a better time to go beyond the 5 Ws, write human-interest narratives or craft feature-style stories — all of those things your AI bot can’t do.
I resolve…
True confession: The other day, I received a badge from ChatGPT — turns out I’m in the Top 1% for number of conversations started with my bot. (I think that’s a little like calling Pizza Hut and learning that you’re ordering your 100th pizza.)
So I’m all in with AI.
This year, I resolve to learn to use it better — and to become a better writer, with and without AI.
Ann Wylie (WylieComm.com) helps PR professionals Catch Your Readers through writing training. Her workshops take her from Hollywood to Helsinki, helping communicators in organizations like Coca-Cola, Toyota, Eli Lilly and Salesforce draw readers in and move them to act. Never miss a tip: FreeWritingTips.wyliecomm.com.
Copyright © 2026 Ann Wylie. All rights reserved.
Illustration credit: john/adobe art
